There are a numerous electrical contacts that are commonly used in the art today. An example of such contacts are shown in FIGS. 1-2. FIG. 1 shows a cantilever contact 10 that bends with a spring like action when engaged. The cantilever contact 10 is typically engaged by a mating contact pressing down from a vertical direction, as shown by a direction arrow in FIG. 1, on a top portion of the contact 10 and deflecting the contact 10. After a period of time the cantilever contact 10 looses its spring action and becomes bent in a direction further away from the mating contact and eventually to the point where no connection is made. The cantilever contact 10 cannot engage a mating contact from a horizontal side direction nor from a horizontal front direction because the friction would cause the contact 10 to buckle or the solder joint to become loose from the circuit or break.
FIG. 2 shows a pogo pin contact 20 that engages with a mating connector by a mating connector pressing down in a vertical direction and deflecting the pogo pin 20 as shown by the direction arrow in FIG. 2. The pogo pin contact 20 cannot receive force or a connection from a horizontal direction because it would break the pogo pin contact 20. There is no known contact that can receive a connection from any planar position without causing wither damage or breakage to the contacts.
There is a need in electrical manufacturing and assembly applications for a contact that permits a connection in any planar direction with minimum of friction. For example, in the portable and mobile radio environment a typical user will abuse contacts in a radio housing by constantly pushing and connecting accessories to the radio housing so that a conventional contact will have short life cycle. There are similar problems in other electrical environments, including mobile phones, computers, or any product with printed circuit boards or accessories that need to be electrically connected via electrical contacts. Thus, there is a need to have a reliable contact that permits full planar sliding movement with minimum friction.